Checkbook’s Guide to Health Plans for Federal Employees gives you vital insurance information that you cannot get from any other source. It tells you how much money you can save by changing — or by staying in — your health insurance plan. It summarizes thousands of facts about the plans to simplify your choice. The Guide comes in both print and Internet versions.

It rates all of over 200 health insurance plans available to federal employees and retirees, including a dozen national plans, almost 200 health maintenance organization (HMO) options, and over a dozen consumer-driven and high-deductible plan options.

Its ratings of plan costs take into account premiums, catastrophic limits and estimates of likely out-of-pocket costs for medical expenses of every kind.

It compares plans for insurance value in dealing with unforeseen medical expenses, not just for the routine costs you can predict.

It compares limits on out-of-pocket costs based on the actual coverage allowed by each plan, not just what the plan seems to say before you read the fine print.

It rates dental and vision plans as well, providing dollar estimates of likely dental costs, taking into account both premiums and out-of-pocket expense, not just descriptions. It compares dental coverage in all plans, not just standalone plans.

It provides up-to-date information on changes in the FEHBP program, including the effects of health care reform.